Railway switch



D. E. LAHEY AND N. A. NORTON.

RAILWAY SWITCH. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 14, 1921;

1, 11 1,85 1 Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

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Wa kaway D. E. LAHEY AND N. A. NORTON.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 14. 1921.

1,41 1,85 1. Patented Apr- 4, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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UNITED STATES Z E E'ENT @Ft 'lE.

DENNIS E. LAHEY AND NATHAN A. NORTON, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

Application filed September 14, 1921.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, DnNNIs E. LAHEY and NATHAN A. NonroN, citizens or the United States, residing at Louisville, in the county of Jeiierson and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Railway Switches, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing. v

This invention relates to improvements in railway switches and the primary object of the invention is to protect the high speed track at all times and absolutely prevent derailment due to a sharp flange, worn switch point or a switch point slightly opened on high or low speed tracks.

Another object of the invention is to furnish an improved guard rail so constructed that the flanges of the car wheels will be automatically and evenly guided along the rail.

Another object of the invention is to arrange the improved guard rail at a position opposite the long point of one of the switch rails so that the car wheels will be prevented from lateral movement during the time that a car is entering the switch.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a single connecting means between the long and short switch rails so constructed that the pointot the short rail when the switch is open will he a predetermined distance from one of the main rails, while the point of the long rail, when the switch is closed, will be an equal dis tance from the other rail of the main line.

A still further object of the invention is to furnish switch rail connecting means ar ranged at a single point and located mainly beneath the plane of the upper surfaces oi the ties so that the connecting means will not be in a position where they can catch on to parts which might be dragging from the train.

With the foregoing objects outlined, and with other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel features herein after described in detail, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a portion Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

Serial No. 500,642.

of a railroad track with the improved switch applied.

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view of the switch rail connecting means.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. i is a side view of the improved guard rail.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the guard rail.

Fig. 6 is a detail view of one end of the guard rail after its web portion has been cut away to permit the head of the rail to be bent downwardly towards the base of the rail.

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view showing the switch applied to a curve and the turnout arranged on the inner side of the curve.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a modification of a detail.

in the drawings, 1 and 2 designate the main line rails while 3 and 4 represent the branch line rails. All these rails are mounted on ties 5 in the usual manner. 6 designates the long point or switch rail which is movably connected at the point 7 to the branch rail 3. 8 designates the short point or switch rail movably connected at the point 9 to the main line .rail 2.

' An arm 10 is pivotally connected to an intermediate portion of one of the ties 5 by a pivot pin 11, and this arm has a downwardly extending offset portion .12 which throws the main portion of the arm in a position below the plane of the upper sur faces of the ties, so that the members which are connected to this arm will be placed between the ties and be arranged below the surfaces of the ties. A link 13 is pivotally connected at'14c to an intermediate portion of thearm 10, and the outer end of this link is provided with a pocket 15 which receives one flange of the base or" the long point or switch rail 6 and is secured to said rail by suitable fastening means such as illustrated at 16. Another link 17 has its inner end pivotally connected at the point 18 to the outer end of the arm 10, and the outer end of the link 17 is provided with a pocket 19 which receives theflange of the base of the short point or switch rail 8 and is secured thereto by suitable fastening means such as shown by 20.

The long point is rigidly connected by means of bolts 21 to an operating link 22 that has its outer end secured to operating lever 23 which may be of any suitable construction, and as such operating means are well known in the art, they will not be described and illustrated here.

It will be noted that the free end 24 of the short point or switch rail 8 is arranged quite near to the link 17 while the end 25 of the rail 6 is arranged at some distance from the link 13, consequently when the link 22 is moved, it must cause a larger movement of the link 17 than the link 13 in order that an equal distance will be provided between the oint and the rails 1 and 4 when the switch is in its operative positions. By connecting the link 13 to an intermediate portion of the arm 10 and the link 17 to the outer end of said arm, this equal movement of the points of the switch rails will be provided.

In order to keep the flanges of the wheels in engagement wlth the rail 4 whether the switch is open or closed we have provided the improved uard rail 26, the intermediate portion of which is arranged opposite to the end 25 of the switch rail 6. This guard rail is rigidly secured to the ties and substantially fastened to the stock rail by one or more clamps, and its ends are turned inwardly as shown at 27 so that under abnormal conditions it will have a tendency to guide the flanges of thewheels adjacent the rail 4 toward said rail. Said guard rail also acts, after the wheel flanges have passed between the straight portion of the guard rail and the rail 4, to force said flanges toward the rail 4 and to maintain said flanges in en: gagement with said rail. Further than this, as best shown in Figure 6, the web at the ends of the guard rail 26 are cut away as shown at 27 so that the head 28 at the ends of the guard rail may be bent downwardly towards the base 29, in order to provide beveled ends 30 for the guard rail as best shown in Figure 4. These beveled ends also function to guide the flanges of the wheels and to maintain the wheels on the rails.

From the foregoing it is believed that the construction, operation and advantages of the invention may be readily understood by those skilled in the art, and we are aware that various changes may be made in the construction illustrated without departing from the spirit of the invention as expressed in the following claims.

For the purpose of adjusting the. switch points relatively to one another the link 13 shown in Figure 8 and corresponding to the link 13, is formed of two parts and is provided with a turn buckle 13.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

1. A railway switch including main rails and branch line rails, one branch line rail forming an extension of a portion of one of the main rails, a long point movably connected to one of the branch line rails, a short point movably connected to one of the main line rails, a guard rail arranged opposite the end of the long point, means for moving one of said points and compensating means arranged between the two points for causing their free ends to move equal distances each time the operating means is actuated, said compensating means being connected to the short point near its free end and to the other point at a position opposite to the free end of th short point.

2. A railway switch of the kind defined by claim 1 in which the operating means is connected to the long point near its free end.

3. A railway switch of the kind defined by claim 1 in which the guard rail is formed of a section of stock rail and is provided with downwardly beveled ends.

4. A railway switch of the kind defined by claim 1, in which the guard rail is formed of a section of stock rail and has its end bentinwardly toward the centre of the track and bevelled downwardly.

5. A railway switch of the kind defined by claim 1 in which the compensating means includes a pivoted arm and links pivotally connected to the arm and secured to the long and short points.

6. A railway switch of the kind defined by claim 1 in which the compensating means includes a pivotally mounted arm, a link having one of its ends secured to the long point and its other ends pivotally connected to the intermediate portion of said arm, and another link having one of its ends secured to the short point and its other end pivotally connected to the outer end of said arm.

7. A railway switch of the kind defined by claim 1, in which the compensating means includes a pivotally mounted arm, a link having one of its ends secured to the long point and its other end pivotally connected to the intermediate portion of said arm, anotherlink having one of its ends secured to the short point and its other end pivotally connected to the outer end of said arm, and means for adjusting the length of one of said links.

8. A railway switch of the kind defined by claim 1, in which the major portion of the compensating means is arranged below the plane of. the upper surfaces of the ties.

In testimony whereof we hereunto aflix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

lVitnesses: HUGH B. FLEECE, E. L. HAMMER. 

